A Shropshire Lad.

£1,750 · Offered by Shapero Rare Books

A beautiful example of the Medici Society limited edition reissue A.E. Housman's first published collection, A Shropshire Lad, in green onlaid morocco by Bayntun-Riviere. The work was originally offered to Macmillan under the title Poems by Terence Hearsay but declined, and then published at Housman's expense in March 1896. 'Though not an instant success, the little volume gradually won a large audience through the universality of its dominant themes (nature, love, war, and death) and the directness of its language and rhythms' (ODNB). Limited edition, number 400 of 1000 copies in eleven point Riccardi fount on Riccardi paper; 8vo (22.5 x 16 cm); bookplate to front free endpaper verso; green morocco by Bayntun-Riviere, unsigned, panels onlaid with borders of fleurons and hearts in blue and red within orange bands, spine onalid in-kind and lettered in gilt, all edges gilt, later endpapers, one or two trifling marks, slight spotting pp22-32, near fine in a green cloth solander box, green morocco title-piece to spine; viii, [2],48, [4]pp.

• Binding: Hardcover

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